type.tvvracing.com — ssh

R A C I N G // CODE AT FULL THROTTLE

type.tvvracing.com — an SSH-only code typing race

Type Racing is a time-attack typing game for programmers that lives entirely in your terminal. You race real source code — a complete, idiomatic function from a well-known algorithm — against the exact recorded run of the pilot one place ahead of you on the leaderboard. There is no website to sign up on, no password, and nothing to install. One command connects you:

$ ssh type.tvvracing.com

  • 🏁 3 weekly tracks
  • 👻 Exact ghost replays
  • 🔑 Your SSH key is your account
  • ⚡ Free to play

Works with the ssh you already have on macOS, Linux, Windows 10+, BSD, and Android via Termux. Requires an interactive terminal, not a browser.

what it is

man type.tvvracing.com

Race code, not lorem ipsum

Most typing tests give you prose or random words. Type Racing gives you the punctuation that actually slows a developer down: arrow functions, generics, nested brackets, template literals, destructuring. Every challenge is a single, complete, idiomatic function implementing a well-known algorithm or a transferable programming pattern — something worth having in muscle memory.

Three weekly challenges

A short warm-up, a medium sprint and a longer feature challenge, each with its own leaderboard and its own closing date. New editions activate automatically at the start of their window.

Ghosts, not averages

Your opponent is a real run someone actually typed, replayed keystroke-accurately. You are always matched against the pilot immediately ahead of your personal best — a target you can reach, not a global champion you cannot.

Live sector deltas

Every line is a sector. As you finish one, you see whether you gained or lost against the ghost's own split for that line, so you learn exactly which constructs cost you the race.

Hard-error typing

A typo blocks the cursor until you press Backspace. You cannot mash through a mistake, so accuracy is not a statistic printed afterwards — it is the thing standing between you and the finish line.

Smart indentation

One press of Space or Tab consumes a whole line's leading indentation. You practise the code, not the whitespace.

Medals for pace

Gold, silver and bronze are awarded for finishing within 10%, 25% and 50% of the track record. A medal measures how close to the record you drove, not who else turned up that week.

connecting

ssh type.tvvracing.com

How to start playing

Open a terminal and run the command. That is the entire onboarding. Your SSH public key is your identity: the server stores a SHA-256 hash of it as your user ID and never keeps the key itself. Connect from the same machine again and every run, ghost and trophy is still yours.

macOS, Linux, BSD

OpenSSH is already installed. Run ssh type.tvvracing.com. If you have no key yet, create one with ssh-keygen -t ed25519 first.

Windows 10 and 11

OpenSSH ships with Windows. Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal and run ssh type.tvvracing.com. WSL and Git Bash work too.

Android and iOS

Termux on Android and Blink or a-Shell on iOS all work. A physical keyboard is strongly recommended — this is a typing race.

kitty users

kitty rewrites ssh to its own kitten, which this server refuses. Use plain OpenSSH by prefixing the command with a backslash: \ssh type.tvvracing.com.

On your first connection you pick a callsign. After that you land in the paddock: your pilot passport, the three open tracks with your personal best and rank on each, and how long is left before each event closes.

What the cockpit looks like

A race in progress: your car and the ghost's on the same track, the live delta against the ghost, one sector light per line, and the source with the current character highlighted.

rules

type.tvvracing.com --rules

The rules, in full

Timing
The clock starts on your first accepted keystroke, not when the screen appears.
Typos
A wrong character blocks the cursor. Only Backspace clears the block; it never moves you backwards.
Indentation
At the start of an indented line, one Space or Tab consumes the whole indent and counts as one keystroke.
Newlines
Enter completes a line and records that sector's split.
WPM
Source characters divided by five, divided by elapsed minutes — the standard convention.
Accuracy
Correct physical keystrokes over total attempted keystrokes.
Leaderboards
One row per pilot: their fastest run. Equal times share a rank.
Ghost selection
Automatic and always the pilot immediately ahead of your personal best. You cannot pick an easy opponent.
Medals
Within +10% of the track record is gold, +25% silver, +50% bronze. They lock in when the event closes.
Overall rank
Your places on all three open tracks, summed. Skipping a track costs more than finishing it last.

After the flag

Every finished race opens post-race telemetry: your time, WPM and accuracy, a per-sector chart comparing you against the ghost line by line, and the key sequences you hesitated on longest. From there you can re-race the same ghost, or drill just your worst line ten times over on a practice track that is never recorded.

privacy

type.tvvracing.com --privacy

What connecting actually does

  • Authentication is SSH public key only. Passwords are not accepted, and your public key itself is never stored — only a SHA-256 hash of it, which is your account.
  • There is no shell. An accepted session gets the game and nothing else; command and subsystem requests are refused.
  • Connecting gives the server no access to your machine, and your private key never leaves it.
faq

type.tvvracing.com --faq

Frequently asked questions

Why does the website tell me to use SSH?

Because Type Racing is not a web app — the game only exists in the terminal. This page is here for people who pasted the domain into a browser. Open a terminal and run ssh type.tvvracing.com to play.

Do I need to create an account?

No. Your SSH public key is your account. The first time you connect you choose a callsign; after that you are recognised automatically. There is no password, no email address and no signup form.

Is it safe to SSH into a stranger's server?

Connecting does not give the server access to your machine, and only your public key is sent — never your private key. The server offers no shell at all. If you would rather use a dedicated identity, generate one with ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/type-racing and connect with ssh -i ~/.ssh/type-racing type.tvvracing.com, which keeps this game away from the key you use everywhere else.

It says a PTY is required, or my client hangs. What now?

The game needs an interactive terminal. Do not pass a command to ssh and do not use -T. If you use kitty, run \ssh type.tvvracing.com so kitty's own ssh kitten gets out of the way.

Can I cheat by pasting the code?

Pasting is recorded as a single multi-character input batch with its exact timing, so it stands out plainly in the race trace. Every run is stored in full for exactly this reason.

How often do the challenges change?

There are always three open tracks, each with its own closing date. New editions are seeded ahead of time and activate on schedule, so the paddock is never empty at a week boundary.

I finished third but got no medal. Why?

Medals measure pace, not placement. Bronze needs a time within 50% of the track record. If only three people have raced and you were a long way off the record, third place earns nothing — and that is deliberate.

Which languages are the challenges written in?

The current set is JavaScript and TypeScript. Each challenge card shows its language, and the source is syntax-highlighted as you type it.